Thursday, May 15, 2014

Judas Priest have unveiled the cover artwork for their forthcoming album, “Redeemer Of Souls.”

Due July 15 in North America (see international list of release dates here), the project will be issued in a standard version and a deluxe edition with five bonus tracks.

Guitarist Glenn Tipton explains why the bonus tracks are only included in the deluxe edition of the album.

"They are all great songs,” he says. “The reason they are not on the album is because the 13 that we chose are very consistent with what we wanted to do, which was release an undisputable heavy metal album. The others, they are not

lightweight by any chance, but they've got a different feel, a different texture. So it's not a case of trying to rip the kids off and trying to get more money for an extra album, it's just a case of, these five tracks seem to deserve to go on their own CD, and that's what we did."

“Redeemer Of Souls” marks guitarist Richie Faulkner's studio debut with Priest; he replaced founding member K.K. Downing following his retirement in 2011.